Refrigerator-fastening.



PATENTED APR. 9

' G. 0. MILLEIL' REFRIGERATOR FASTENING.

APPLICATION FILED APR.27,1905.

pairs srane airsrr FFI Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

Application filed April 27,1905. Serial-No. 25 7,702.

To all whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfax, in the county of Renville and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in RefrigeratonFastenings; andI do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form. a part of this specification.

My invention relates to fastenings for airtight light and heavy doors-such as icebox, cooler, and refrigerator doors-and has for its object to provide a device of this classwhich is particularly simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, strong, durable, and eflicient.

' It is a matter of common knowledge that certain doors, particularly those which are designed to be air-tight and are subject to moisture, frequently swell, and are therefore most diflicult to open.

In my device, as will be hereinafter fully described, I have provided a simple, novel, and efiicient manner for forcing the door open as well as for forcing it to close tightly and securely.

My invention therefore consists in the novel construction providing for forcing open the door, in connectionwith the construction providing for tightly and securely forcing the door closed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the fastening, showing door in closed position. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through door and easing, showing door forced open. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2'. Fig. 4 is a plan of fastening-lever. Fig. 5 is an edge view of keeper. Fig. 6 is a plan of bed-plate for fastening-lever, and Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 4. Like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several figures, in

which- 1 indicates the device, which comprises a fastening-lever 2, bed-plate 3 for said fastening, a bolt or pivoting element 4, and a keeper 5.

G'indicates the handle of the fastening-lever, and 7 is the cam-hooked keeper-engaging portion...

As will be seen from Fig. 4, the bottom face 8 of the fastening-lever is provided with a groove 9, while the bed-plate 3 is provided with an annular tongue 10, Fig. 6, entering said groove 9.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5, it is seen that the top 11 of the keeper 5 is dished or concaved and that it is wider at the bottom than at the top, the purposes of which con struction will be presently described.

The handle 6 of the fastening-lever at the point indicated by dotted line 7 '7, Fi 4, is formed like a cam, as will be seen fronfi ig. 7. It is thus seen that the lever is provided with two-cams, one on each side of its pivotal point Having thus described the several parts of my invention, its o oration is as follows: The device is secure in position as shown in Fig. l, the fastenin lever being pivoted in line with the axis 0% the door. In order to force the door tightly closed after shutting the door, the handle-6 of the fastening-lever is lowered, which forces the cam-hooked portion 7 within the keeper 5, and by reason of said cam acting against the inner face of the keeper the door is forced into a close tight engagement, with its casing. In order to open the door, however, the handle 6 is raised and rotated until the cam portion of the handle comes in contact with the top 11 of the keeper 5, as shown in Fig. 2. The handle is then forced down, which causes said cam portion to travel down the concaved inclined plane presented by the top of the keeper, which exerts a great drawing strain upon the door and forces it open, as shown in Fi 2, the bed-plate 3 and tongue .10 thereon orming a long rigid bearing for the fastening-lever and preventing the lever from biting into the wood of the door. As a further protection to the door and as a uard against accidental loosening of the b0 t 4 it will be seen that the bed-plate 3 is formed with a rectangular opening 12 for said bolt. The portion of said bolt which passes through said bed-plate and door is swaged square or rectangular. Thus the boltis securely held against rotation, thereby minimizing loosenin of the same.

aving thus fully described my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction as herein set forth, as various slight changes maybe made therein which would fall within the limit and scope of my invention, and I congagementwith the under side of the keeper, a handle at the other end and a cam portion between said handle andthe pivotal point of the lever, said cam portion being arranged to en age the outside of the keeper, substantia ly as described.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE C. MILLER. Witnesses HOBKINS,

SUSAN M. HOPKINS. 

